I have said before that I would have a priori doubts about anything calling itself Talking Biotech. But I stand by what I also said in that post about the actual podcast of that name, by Dr Kevin Folta of the University of Florida, being largely free — though by no means entirely, alas — of the narrowness, nerdiness and preachyness that the name conjures up, at least for me. And so I congratulate Dr Folta on receiving a few days ago the Borlaug CAST Communications Award, given out annually by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). The recent episode on coffee, which we have have already Nibbled, is a pretty good introduction to his podcast, if you’re new to it. And I don’t say that just because I’m somewhat involved in the development of the coffee genetic resources conservation strategy mentioned therein.
Nibbles: Drying seeds, Saving citrus, Shakespeare’s food, Ganja double, TPP, Aurochs art, Coffee diversity, Biofortification, Training, Breeding booklet
- Zeolite finds its genebank niche. Remember when we blogged about it?
- The USDA citrus genebank at Riverside gets the podcast treatment.
- Shakespeare, because it’s the 400th anniversary of his death: food and animals.
- Weed, because weed: taxonomy and breeding. Could literally apply to any other crop on earth.
- What will the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) do to farm-saved seeds?
- Bring back the aurochs!
- Barista Magazine on coffee diversity. In other news, there’s a Barista Magazine.
- The chemistry of banana carotenoids.
- Master of Arts in Food Studies in San Francisco! What’s not to like.
- From plant to crop: The past, present and future of plant breeding. Nice booklet.
Filling up at the Food Tank
Ok, so let me not make the same mistake again. The Food Tank Summit is on right now, and is being livestreamed. Among the forthcoming highlights, our friend Simran Sethi, author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, will be moderating a panel on Beyond Calories: The Need for Nutrient Dense Diets in a couple of hours:
Over the last 50 years, research organizations, governments, and development agencies have focused on increasing calories available per person–yet, today, nearly 1 billion people continue to go hungry and another 2.3 billion people are overweight or obese. Clearly, filling people up is not enough — we need to actually nourish them with nutrient dense crops and foods that are good for both people and the planet.
Join in using #foodtank.
Finger on the pulses
Very remiss of us not to mention until now the International Conference on Pulses (ICP2016) in Marrakesh. Alas, it’s ending today. But you can look over the tweets using the #TalkPulses hashtag. Or revel in the keynote presentation on the genomics of it all.
Is it too late to make our customary call for contributions? I think not. If you have any impressions you’d like to share, we’re at your disposal.
Nibbles: Vavilov double, Huge avocado, African urban ag, Agarwood threat, Double coffee, Sequencing beer, Sloane ranges, Chinese bees, Gendered breeding, Access to seeds/meds, Genebank funding, Quinoa prices, Organic ganja
- VIR on Atlas Obscura, with pic goodness courtesy of yours truly. And on the same site, something Vavilov would have approved of: a very diverse Tajik apple orchard.
- A new avocado to conjure by.
- Urban agriculture won’t cut the mustard.
- Trees that named Fragrant Harbour disappearing.
- The downside of coffee. But never fear, there’s a strategy coming!
- The beernome!
- Happy birthday Sir Hans Sloane, for many botanical reasons!
- Chinese pollinators in trouble. Enough of the exclamation marks.
- Do you have any examples of “plant or animal breeding that has successfully incorporated gender considerations into its strategies and end products”? Contact these people.
- Can seeds learn from meds, policy-wise?
- Bioversity DG lobbies for genebanks.
- Get your fill of quinoa, courtesy of Jeremy.
- Sustainable pot. ‘Cause that’s the California Way, man.